Patricio Lopez-Jaramillo et al. discuss the link between maternal undernutrition, birth weight and cardiometabolic disease, emphasizing the importance of conducting research in Latin America to develop strategies for disease prevention in this setting.

In Australia, which has high historical but low current prevalence of smoking, up to two thirds of deaths in current smokers are due to tobacco but cessation reduces mortality, providing independent evidence about the contemporary risks of smoking.

Barbara Burtness and Mehmet Altan comment on research showing an increased risk of severe infection in cancer patients on EGFR-directed antibody therapy, highlighting that dose modification strategies could be developed to reduce infection risk.

In the PARADIGM-HF trial, the novel drug LCZ696 is more effective than enalapril for heart failure; Gerasimos Filippatos et al discuss the clinical applications and highlight the PARAGON-HF trial that is addressing the effect of LCZ696 in patient subgroups.

David Moher and colleagues highlight the challenges associated with the implementation of reporting guidelines, recommending that authors, reviewers, editors and other stakeholders should work together to ensure that all research is reported.

It is important that bioresources used in scientific publications are reported accurately; Elena Bravo and colleagues present CoBRA, a guideline that aims to improve the quality of reporting and increase the recognition of bioresources in research.

Jean-François Etter discusses the research priorities for understanding the benefits and harms of electronic cigarettes, highlighting that independent research is necessary to provide evidence-based guidance on their safety and avoid excessive regulation.

The editors of BMC Medicine would like to extend our sincere thanks to all our reviewers who have contributed to the journal in Volume 12 (2014). The time and expertise they have provided is greatly appreciated.

Michael Berk and colleagues review the common immunological factors associated with fatigue across different diseases including neuroinflammation, and propose that peripheral immune activation should be considered in patients with idiopathic fatigue.

In a systematic analysis, post-marketing withdrawals of drugs causing death are more common in Europe than Africa, and delays occur between the first death report and drug withdrawal, suggesting that swifter action to remove dangerous drugs is required.

Findings from a recent RCT on the Stepping Stones Triple P programme highlighted the short-term benefits, but not the long-term benefits in comparison to care-as-usual. Here, Tellegen and Sofronoff comment on the potential limitations of this analysis and argue that other studies have shown the long-term benefits of the programme.

Maternal smoking during pregnancy is associated with a dose-dependent increase in internalizing behavior in children, suggesting that smoking cessation interventions targeted towards pregnant women could help reduce childhood anxiety and depression.

Africa has the highest global malaria burden; Robert Snow discusses the importance of P. falciparum malaria epidemiology in this continent, arguing that reducing the global burden of malaria is only possible by including Africa in eradication strategies.

Walter Dzik comments on research highlighting inadequate blood transfusion for African children with severe anemia, recommending that improvements in blood inventory management and further research are needed to reduce avoidable deaths.

In a reanalysis of the FEAST trial, severe anemia is common in African children admitted to hospital with febrile illness, and adherence to transfusion guidelines is poor, emphasizing the need for prompt recognition of anemia and rapid blood transfusion.

Peter Croft et al. argue that decision making in clinical practice should be based on patient prognosis as well as disease diagnosis, highlighting that this prognostic model may improve future patient outcome by incorporating more information.

In a mathematical model, the timing of infection by Plasmodium falciparum malaria mostly depends on random factors, suggesting that parasite growth rate could be more useful than time-to-infection measures in estimating protective immunity.

Low levels of haemoglobin (Hb) at birth are associated with greater risk of mortality and requirement for blood transfusion in preterm infants, providing support for delayed cord clamping to improve Hb levels and reduce the complications of prematurity.

The quality of oral anticoagulation treatment is higher in patients attending a telemedicine-based coagulation service compared with standard healthcare, emphasizing the importance of specialist treatment clinics to reduce thromboembolic risk.

Evidence from a systematic review suggests the presence of bacteria in spinal discs could be associated with low back pain and disc herniation, but more research is needed to determine whether low-grade infection contributes to chronic pain.

Duration of lithium therapy is associated with reduced kidney function regardless of subsequent discontinuation once kidneys are already damaged, suggesting that kidney risk should be weighed against lithium’s beneficial effects for mood disorders.

In older adults, a prudent diet containing olive oil and vegetables is linked to lower risk of frailty whereas a Western diet is associated with frailty components, highlighting the need for trials to determine whether diet can protect against frailty.

In a meta-analysis, treatment with mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists (MRAs) is linked to lower hospitalization rates for heart failure in patients with preserved systolic function, confirming the benefits of MRAs in these patients.

In a Papua New Guinea trial, intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in pregnancy using sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine plus azithromycin reduces low birth weight risk, highlighting evidence to support its use outside Africa to improve pregnancy outcome.

Individuals with non-O blood groups have an increased rate of all-cause mortality and incident gastric cancer, possibly through the effects on blood biochemistry, supporting the clinical importance of blood group determination in assessing health risks.

Recent findings suggest nearly 6% of total deaths and 9% of cardiovascular deaths could be due to having non-O blood groups; Massimo Franchini and Giuseppe Lippi discuss possible mechanisms of these associations and the clinical implications.

Platelet-derived growth factors (PDGFs) affect the proliferation of mesenchymal stem cells taken from patients following traumatic fracture, providing further evidence for the clinical utility of platelet-derived products in bone healing.

The Hundred Person Wellness Project aims to screen healthy individuals to avoid symptomatic disease; Eleftherios Diamandis argues that such testing could lead to over-diagnosis and over-treatment, and should be used with caution.

Lee Hood and colleagues discuss the benefits of the Hundred Person Wellness Project, a study that aims to monitor 100 ‘well’ individuals, arguing that the results will enable earlier disease intervention to optimize wellness and minimize illness.

Pao-Hwa Lin and colleagues review recent evidence for the effect of diet on prostate cancer incidence and progression, concluding that while some findings are inconsistent, consuming a healthy diet is a promising approach for prostate cancer prevention.

Current methods to identify pathogens causing diabetic foot infections (DFIs) are inadequate, so Anne Spichler and colleagues suggest that developing new molecular techniques to better understand DFI microbiology will lead to better management of this complex disease.

As quality of reporting clinical prediction models is often poor, Gary Collins and colleagues have developed the TRIPOD statement, which provides authors and editors with a 22-item checklist to ensure all key elements of a multivariable prediction model can be adequately reported.

In a systematic review, evidence for the protective effects of influenza vaccination in patients with end-stage renal disease is limited, highlighting the need for more studies to assess vaccine effectiveness in this at-risk population.

Population-based data from 30 sub-Saharan African countries provides country-level prevalence estimates of tobacco use, demonstrating varying use of smoking and smokeless tobacco that are linked to social determinants such as gender, age and education.

Evidence from a meta-analysis suggests that there are sex differences in risk factors for mortality after myocardial infarction (MI), providing information that should inform prediction models to improve risk assessment for men and women.

Thyroid hormone levels are elevated in children conceived by in vitro fertilization (IVF) with fresh embryo transfer (ET) compared with frozen ET, suggesting that frozen ET could reduce the risks of thyroid dysfunction in children born after IVF.

Malaria continues to present significant health burden in Africa, but there is still controversy in how to estimate this; here Robert Snow argues that statistical measures should be used to assess the burden and inform control strategies.

Charlotta Pisinger argues that electronic cigarettes are not safe due to health concerns with propylene glycol and their use spreading to non-smokers, concluding that it is questionable whether the benefits of electronic cigarettes outweigh the harms.

The use of electronic cigarettes is controversial; Peter Hajek outlines their health benefits, concluding that there is sufficient evidence to recommend electronic cigarettes to those who have been unable to stop smoking with existing treatments.

Patients with multimorbidity are frequently seen in primary care; Christiane Muth and colleagues present the Ariadne principles, offering guidance in decision making for multimorbidity in primary care and focusing on realistic treatment goals.

The Ariadne principles developed by Muth et al. aim to improve multimorbidity management; here Peter Bower discusses the challenges in implementing these changes in primary care, and highlights further research into effective management of multimorbidity is still needed.